Frank Smallwood was born on 20 November 1879 and arrived in Perth from England with his wife and two year old in September 1905. He was the captain of the Midlands club, Darlaston Town, and was given a benefit match in April of that year with Wolverhampton Wanderers a few months before his departure to Australia. Frank represented Claremont as a defender from 1906 to 1914. In 1910 he represented Western Australian against a visiting South Australian team. In 1915 he remained involved in game as a linesman.
Frank enlisted as a Sapper in the AIF in February 1916 and served on the Western Front. In October 1917 he was was admitted to the field hopsital with inflammation of the right knee. Private Smallwood did not return to the front. He was diagnosed with synovitis and invalided to Australian on 6 August 1918.
In regards to his family life, in April 1911 Frank’s wife Kate passed away at the age of 30 in January 1912. In December 1912 he married Kate’s younger sister Edith who arrived in Australia after her death. After his return from the war, Frank had two children with his second wife and passed away at the age of 81 in Albany, WA on Christmas Eve 1960.